Transponder on altitude reporting while on ground

flyingron said:
As long as you're on the ground and squawking something OTHER than 1200 (and outside the FRZ) you're not going to have a problem.
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I'm inside the FRZ, and it doesn't matter the squawk, as long as it isn't 1200. I have left the "old" squawk in, on ALT, until after run-up. And I once transposed two numbers and took off. On first contact, the controller asked me to check, I did so, fixed it, and that was all. No wrath of FAA.

It does use a lot of power, relative to other avionics. If you lost your alternator, it might be good to shut it down.
 
Palmpilot said:
The only person who has asked me to set it to standby while taxiing is an instructor who has experienced the distraction of false traffic alerts. I don't know why ATC would make such a request.
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If they were getting false traffic alerts too?
 
Our Air Force checklist says it will be in ALT when entering an active runway and STBY after exiting the active runway, so that's what we do and that is the same thing I have always done civilian flying. I will turn it to ATL on the ground if I am at one of the 35 ASDE-X airports. At the other 15,000 airfields in the country, I will continue to leave it on STBY on the ground.
For Joe Cessna flying into Podunk Airport in the middle of Nebraska, having the transponder on ALT literally does absolutely nothing to benefit him. The only thing it could POTENTIALLY do is cause his airplane to show up on TIS/TCAS(had it happen and we don't have "outdated" avionics). Yeah it doesn't give a RA but the target still shows up. Heck, ships in the harbor around Norfolk show up. So I'd say with it needing to really be on at 35 out of 15,000 airfields, I will stick to doing my normal routine of putting it in STBY on the ground.

In a nutshell:

1. It isn't regulatory
2. If you don't have it in ALT at an ASDE-X airport, the worst that is gonna happen is ground tells you to turn it on. No big deal.
3. I can't believe I am typing this long of post about something so minuscule as the transponder being in STBY or ALT on the ground.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
Our Air Force checklist says it will be in ALT when entering an active runway and STBY after exiting the active runway, so that's what we do and that is the same thing I have always done civilian flying. I will turn it to ATL on the ground if I am at one of the 35 ASDE-X airports. At the other 15,000 airfields in the country, I will continue to leave it on STBY on the ground.
For Joe Cessna flying into Podunk Airport in the middle of Nebraska, having the transponder on ALT literally does absolutely nothing to benefit him. The only thing it could POTENTIALLY do is cause his airplane to show up on TIS/TCAS(had it happen and we don't have "outdated" avionics). Yeah it doesn't give a RA but the target still shows up. Heck, ships in the harbor around Norfolk show up. So I'd say with it needing to really be on at 35 out of 15,000 airfields, I will stick to doing my normal routine of putting it in STBY on the ground.

In a nutshell:

1. It isn't regulatory
2. If you don't have it in ALT at an ASDE-X airport, the worst that is gonna happen is ground tells you to turn it on. No big deal.
3. I can't believe I am typing this long of post about something so minuscule as the transponder being in STBY or ALT on the ground.
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That.

Also always done the alt and full lights thing when crossing a runway


N801BH said:
Originally Posted by N801BH
I am surprised you passed the Form 5 check ride since 2012..:nono:



It's perfectly legit to exercise PIC authority, unless you're unaware.

Which is exactly why I asked MAKG how he passed the Form 5 check ride since the CAP are hell bent on following the book, any book...... To the T...:idea:
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And that.

FastEddieB said:
And Anti-Authority is a hazardous attitude.
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Well guess I do it often, they say to always run your strobes, yet I only turn them on when I'm on the active, as a late night flyer I find folks appreciate this too.
 
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Palmpilot said:
The only person who has asked me to set it to standby while taxiing is an instructor who has experienced the distraction of false traffic alerts. I don't know why ATC would make such a request.
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Not all airports with ASR have ASDE so there's no benefit to ATC in having transponders on when taxiing. Some controllers found these targets annoying and directed the aircraft to squawk standby.
 
N801BH said:
Originally Posted by N801BH
I am surprised you passed the Form 5 check ride since 2012..:nono:



It's perfectly legit to exercise PIC authority, unless you're unaware.

Which is exactly why I asked MAKG how he passed the Form 5 check ride since the CAP are hell bent on following the book, any book...... To the T...:idea:
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Your concept of CAP and it's actual operation are only slightly related.
 
roncachamp said:
Not all airports with ASR have ASDE so there's no benefit to ATC in having transponders on when taxiing. Some controllers found these targets annoying and directed the aircraft to squawk standby.
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True. Still some airports with no radar coverage at all.
 
I love that people always say "the AIM isn't regulatory" when they really mean "I've always done it this way and I'm not going to change despite being asked to".
 
jason said:
I love that people always say "the AIM isn't regulatory" when they really mean "I've always done it this way and I'm not going to change despite being asked to".
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Yes. And how it was explained to me was "The AIM isn't regulatory, but if somebody from the FAA asks and you're not following the AIM, you'd better have a ****, er, I mean VERY good reason why."

John
 
jason said:
I love that people always say "the AIM isn't regulatory" when they really mean "I've always done it this way and I'm not going to change despite being asked to".
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It means if it makes sense I'll follow it, but I'm not following non mandatory stuff just because.

If the FAA asks, I'll ask if I'm required to, that's a quick conversation which I doubt would even ever take place.
 
James331 said:
It means if it makes sense I'll follow it, but I'm not following non mandatory stuff just because.
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What's wrong with doing what is requested of you unless there is a good reason not to? If we're all working from the same playbook then we can all know what to expect from each other.

I have a feeling that some of the people that are saying "the AIM isn't regulatory" would refer to the AIM if somebody were trying to defend the use of ATITAPA when approaching the airport environment.
 
jason said:
What's wrong with doing what is requested of you unless there is a good reason not to? If we're all working from the same playbook then we can all know what to expect from each other.

I have a feeling that some of the people that are saying "the AIM isn't regulatory" would refer to the AIM if somebody were trying to defend the use of ATITAPA when approaching the airport environment.
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I can’t write for others, I can only write what in in my mind.

I find value in understanding the AIM is not regulatory.

In the particular case the local tower boss is requesting that I do something differently than what is in the AIM to make his job easier.

I am happy to do that for him because he and the other controllers help me every time I fly and he said please.
 
Vance Breese said:
I can’t write for others, I can only write what in in my mind.

I find value in understanding the AIM is not regulatory.

In the particular case the local tower boss is requesting that I do something differently than what is in the AIM to make his job easier.

I am happy to do that for him because he and the other controllers help me every time I fly and he said please.
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You bet. That is a good reason to do otherwise (at that airport).
 
Vance Breese said:
I recently attended a FAST meeting at KSMX and the tower boss asked pilots to leave their transponders on standby until ready to take off.
It had to do with the particular kind of radar KSMX has.
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It's an ASR-11, nothing special about it.
 
I have a speed and (I think) squat switch sensor so my Trig TT-21 flips to gnd/Flt mode automatically. Yay.
 
jason said:
I love that people always say "the AIM isn't regulatory" when they really mean "I've always done it this way and I'm not going to change despite being asked to".
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On the red board, it was pointed out that AIM 4-3-14 says to call either ground control or clearance delivery before engine start. Do you do that?

Also, do you inform ATC every time you're in a plane that can't climb at least 500 FPM under current conditions?
 
jason said:
What's wrong with doing what is requested of you unless there is a good reason not to? If we're all working from the same playbook then we can all know what to expect from each other.

I have a feeling that some of the people that are saying "the AIM isn't regulatory" would refer to the AIM if somebody were trying to defend the use of ATITAPA when approaching the airport environment.
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The instructor I referred to thinks that avoiding distracting false alerts on short final is a good enough reason when not operating at one of the 35 ASDE-X equipped airports, and I have no basis to dispute him on that.
 
Palmpilot said:
The instructor I referred to thinks that avoiding distracting false alerts on short final is a good enough reason when not operating at one of the 35 ASDE-X equipped airports, and I have no basis to dispute him on that.
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This. Give me one good reason(other than, "The AIM says so") to have my transponder on ALT while on the ground at a non-ADSE-X airport and I will do it.
 
Attended a meeting ,meet the controllers. Their request was not to go to alt on the transponder untill cleared for takeoff.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
Our Air Force checklist says it will be in ALT when entering an active runway and STBY after exiting the active runway, so that's what we do and that is the same thing I have always done civilian flying. I will turn it to ATL on the ground if I am at one of the 35 ASDE-X airports. At the other 15,000 airfields in the country, I will continue to leave it on STBY on the ground.
For Joe Cessna flying into Podunk Airport in the middle of Nebraska, having the transponder on ALT literally does absolutely nothing to benefit him. The only thing it could POTENTIALLY do is cause his airplane to show up on TIS/TCAS(had it happen and we don't have "outdated" avionics). Yeah it doesn't give a RA but the target still shows up. Heck, ships in the harbor around Norfolk show up. So I'd say with it needing to really be on at 35 out of 15,000 airfields, I will stick to doing my normal routine of putting it in STBY on the ground.

In a nutshell:

1. It isn't regulatory
2. If you don't have it in ALT at an ASDE-X airport, the worst that is gonna happen is ground tells you to turn it on. No big deal.
3. I can't believe I am typing this long of post about something so minuscule as the transponder being in STBY or ALT on the ground.
Click to expand...

Do you happen to have a link to a list of those 35 airports? I think it's very unlikely that I will ever fly to any of them, but I thought I'd check, just in case.
 
Palmpilot said:
Do you happen to have a link to a list of those 35 airports? I think it's very unlikely that I will ever fly to any of them, but I thought I'd check, just in case.
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Actually, it's not hard to find. It's quite similar to the list of Class B airports.

https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/asde-x/

Just about the only one that makes sense for small spam cans on the west coast is KSAN.
 
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MAKG1 said:
Just about the only one that makes sense for small spam cans on the west coast is KSAN.
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I would argue that of all the airport's on that list, SAN probably has the least need for it.

One runway. No blind spots for tower. And almost zero GA presence other than corporate jets.

Or did you mean to say SNA instead of SAN?
 
Gucci Pilot said:
This. Give me one good reason(other than, "The AIM says so") to have my transponder on ALT while on the ground at a non-ADSE-X airport and I will do it.
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Posters on POA won't accuse you of having an anti-authority attitude. Is that a good enough reason?:lol:
 
Never expected my simple post would generate such a spirited discussion. I see the validity of both sides.

For what it's worth, FAA SAFO on 5/19/15 stated that "To proactively address these problems, aircraft operating on all airport movement areas at all airports, not just those that are ASDE-X equipped, must have their transponders on in the altitude reporting mode."


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
CrimsonFlyer said:
For what it's worth, FAA SAFO on 5/19/15 stated that "To proactively address these problems, aircraft operating on all airport movement areas at all airports, not just those that are ASDE-X equipped, must have their transponders on in the altitude reporting mode."
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Gee...that sounds so clear! :mad2:
 
CrimsonFlyer said:
Never expected my simple post would generate such a spirited discussion. I see the validity of both sides.

For what it's worth, FAA SAFO on 5/19/15 stated that "To proactively address these problems, aircraft operating on all airport movement areas at all airports, not just those that are ASDE-X equipped, must have their transponders on in the altitude reporting mode."


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I don't see what's "proactive" about recommending it at thousands of airports when only 35 need it. :rolleyes:
 
So this thread taught me that my having mine come on with the avionics master straight to ALT is fine, and there will be whiners with poorly implemented avionics that will babble at them because of it, which they apparently don't know how to silence or turn off.

:) ;-) :)
 
RyanShort1 said:
Until I upgrade to an alternator, I plan on switching it on at the runway.
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Seems reasonable for a generator equipped airplane. Especially if you'd like as many amps in the battery as possible during an IMC takeoff for example. Wouldn't be hard to make that case to an inspector if anyone ever asked. And they won't.
 
CrimsonFlyer said:
For what it's worth, FAA SAFO on 5/19/15 stated that "To proactively address these problems, aircraft operating on all airport movement areas at all airports, not just those that are ASDE-X equipped, must have their transponders on in the altitude reporting mode."
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Palmpilot said:
I don't see what's "proactive" about recommending it at thousands of airports when only 35 need it. :rolleyes:
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It said "movement areas", which I take to mean only at airports with ATCT. There are only six hundred or so of those, not thousands. Point still taken though, despite being off by an order of magnitude :wink2:

I suppose if you want to be a literalist, you can keep your xpdr off or standby until after you cross the solid-over-dashed yellow lines.
 
asicer said:
It said "movement areas", which I take to mean only at airports with ATCT. There are only six hundred or so of those, not thousands. Point still taken though, despite being off by an order of magnitude :wink2:

I suppose if you want to be a literalist, you can keep your xpdr off or standby until after you cross the solid-over-dashed yellow lines.
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Wrong.....
 
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